1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to cluster bombs, and more particularly to cluster bombs having facilities for communicating with each of the individual bomblets which are released when the bomb is dropped.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Cluster bombs have been used for some time to provide area coverage from a single bomb drop. Up to several hundred bomblets are carried within a single outer housing or canister, which separates into two parts when dropped from an aircraft and releases the bomblets. The individual bomblets ideally fall in a predetermined dispersion pattern to cover a large area. Some cluster bombs have no facilities for communicating with individual bomblets, and the bomblets explode upon impact or after a built-in delay period. In a more sophisticated type of cluster bomb, each of the individual bomblets is connected to a central controller by means of a wire harness, with separate cables running from the harness to each individual bomblet. The use of such cables makes it possible to communicate with the bomblets after they have been positioned in the bomb canister, for purposes such as arming the bomblets or providing a common detonation delay time to each of the bomblets.
While the use of such wire harness connections provides greater versatility in the application for which the cluster bomb may be used, it also limits the performance of the bomb. It is generally desirable that the bomblet dispersion pattern be homogeneous over a large area. The forces acting on the bomblets as they are released from the cluster bomb are critical in determining the dispersion pattern, with only a few ounces of force on each bomblet being sufficient to greatly distort the pattern. One problem with the prior art wire harness approach has been that, in order to provide communication with the bomblets, the wire harnesses have had their cables mechanically connected directly to each bomblet. when the bomblets are released, they must then be disconnected from their respective cables in order to fall freely. Various attempts have been made to disconnect the bomblets without adversely effecting their dispersion pattern, but none have been entirely successful.
In one prior art arrangement, an explosive device is provided on each bomblet to separate the bomblet from its electrical cable upon bomb release. While this approach effectively disconnects the cable, the explosive devices impose relatively large forces upon their respective bomblets which tend to spoil the dispersion pattern. Low force mechanical separation devices have also been proposed, but connectors with such devices tend to be quite unreliable, and can still significantly disrupt the dispersion pattern. Another problem is that, if too much force is imparted to the bomblets when they are released, the bomblets can tumble as they drop. Since the bomblet are generally armed by a rotating fin arrangement that is turned by air pressure as the bomblets rapidly fall and causes an arming mechanism to activate, a tumbling motion can keep the fins from rotating and thereby prevent the bomblet from arming.
In addition to the separation problems mentioned above, the wire harness approach is quite expensive, in large part because it requires a separate cable for each of typically several hundred bomblets. Furthermore, none of the prior art cluster bombs have a capability, after the bomblets have been packaged within the bomb canister, of programming each of the bomblets with individual detonation delay times. Such a capability would be desirable in order to have the bomblets detonate at predetermined time intervals over a large ground area, and thus deny the area to an opposing force for the period that the bomblets continue to detonate.